Recently, many countries of the world are adopting the agenda of the green growth era, in which the low-carbon green technology and the green industry are utilized as new growth engines, as a new paradigm of national development in order to overcome the climate change crisis caused by the increased use of fossil fuels and the energy and resource crises caused by the increased global population and the rapid growth of the BRIC countries. That is, green growth is the new power of national development which breaks from the fixed idea that the environment and the economy conflict with each other and which maximizes the synergy of both, so that economic growth contributes to improving the environment and the environment is converted into a growth engine, thereby enabling the economy and the environment to form a virtuous circle.
As one of the specific methods for the realization of green growth, photovoltaic power generation is attracting attention as a means for realizing an escape from petroleum and the self-sufficiency of energy. In general, photovoltaic power generation is implemented in the form of a generation method of receiving solar light and directly generating electricity using solar cells made of semiconductor material. That is, photovoltaic power generation is a method of generating electricity by directly converting the light energy of the sun into electrical energy.
A photovoltaic power generation system is configured such that a solar cell module, that is, a solar cell panel, is arranged and installed outside a building and power is supplied from the module to various types of electrical equipment through a connection box, an inverter and a switchboard. Here, the solar cell module receives solar light and then generates Direct Current (DC) electricity. A junction box is required to collect electricity generated by the solar cell module and provide the electricity to the connection box. Such a junction box is connected in series or parallel to a solar cell module, and is fastened to the back of the solar ceil module while watertightness is generally maintained using sealing material. In general, the junction box is connected to the solar cell module using flexible ribbon cables, and collects electricity generated by the solar cell module using the ribbon cables.
Up to now, when ribbon cables are connected to a junction box, the ribbon cables have been connected by applying soldering, inserting ribbon cables after raising driver insertion recesses, or inserting folded ribbon cables into terminal blocks. Soldering deteriorates processing efficiency and makes replacement during post-sale service difficult, and the contact portions of bus bars or the body of a junction box may be damaged because ribbon cables are connected by exerting physical force using a driver so as to insert the ribbon cables into driver insertion recesses. Furthermore, in the case where ribbon cables are folded and then connected, heat is generated due to high contact resistance and contact stability is also low because the ribbon cables are folded and then used, and additional post-processing is required to be performed on the ribbon cables because the ribbon cables should be folded and then connected.
As described above, since the conventional methods are problematic in that the body of a junction box may be damaged during the post-sale service of the junction box and post-processing is required to be performed on ribbon cables, a junction box having a structure which enables the easy connection of ribbon cables is required. Meanwhile, in the conventional junction box, heat is generated in the portions thereof where ribbon cables are connected, so that the junction box requires a heat sink structure which emits heat to the outside.
Accordingly, it is required that an operator can easily connect, ribbon cables and that the contact stability of ribbon cables is provided to allow the ribbon cables to be connected by a predetermined contact pressure while leaving the intrinsic contact areas of the ribbon cables unchanged, and it is also required that there be a heat sink structure capable of effectively emitting the heat generated by internal components to the outside.
Furthermore, with regard to the conventional solar cell modules, since it is possible to track abnormalities occurring in each group of modules when the abnormalities occur, it is difficult to perform management and take action in real time because it is difficult to find the occurrence of an abnormality in each module, with the result that a solution to this is also required.